The beer of the summer was released months before the summer began and sold out way before the warm weather moved in.

Luckily, the Genesee Brewery is remedying that.

The state's oldest brewery released an unexpected hit in late March: its Ruby Red Kölsch, an insanely refreshing grapefruit-infused beer.

Thursday, Genesee packages another 500 barrels of the beer. And in the coming days, the beer will hit shelves at all your favorite stores. None of this batch was kegged for draft consumption.

“We are floored with how quickly we’ve sold out of it," said Janine Schoos, associate marketing director for import and heritage brands for North American Breweries (Genesee's parent company). "We never expected it.”

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The unique view from behind the iconic Genesee Brewery sign atop the brewery, looking back at the Rochester city skyline, seen during a tour at Genesee Brewery on St. Paul Street. The Rochester brewery is almost done with the first phase of its $49.1 million modernization project. SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/, SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/staff pho

The view down on the massive modernization project at Genesee Brewery. The brewery is almost done with the first phase of its $49.1 million modernization project. SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/, SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/staff pho

Mark Fabrizio, director of craft breweries and project manager, looks over filtration that will be installed around the new tanks outside the cold block. SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/, SHAWN DOWD/@sdowdphoto/staff pho

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Genesee expected the initial 1,000-barrel batch to last through July. (For perspective, most local craft breweries won't brew 1,000 barrels of beer this year.)

Instead, Genny sold out of the beer by mid-May. The second batch, a smaller run, had to be fit into the brew schedule. But brewmaster Steve Kaplan and his team found room.

Social media created a lot of buzz around beer. I couldn't log into Facebook without seeing someone holding the beer near a backyard grill loaded with Zweigle's hot dogs or whatever.

And then as the beer started to disappear from shelves, I would see multiple posts per day in Rochester's rabid Facebook beer groups for people searching for it. Not knowing if it would be packaged again, I stocked up.

Schoos said Genny sold 33 percent more of the kölsch in the last two months compared to the first two months of its Oktoberfest two years ago. "It's by far the fastest selling seasonal we've made," she said.

(For the record, I encouraged Schoos and Genny to make this beer available year-round.)

The inspiration didn't come from a smaller pilot batch from brewmaster Dean Jones and the Genesee Brew House. It wasn't the idea of Kaplan, the new Genesee corporate brewmaster.

Instead, the spark came from Schoos and her brand team. They challenged the brewers back in December to come up with something that could bridge the gap between Genesee Bock and Oktoberfest.

Jones pushed hard for a kölsch, since its an ideal summer beer and has roots in the brewery's German heritage.

"We don't get time to do research unless we're drinking it," Jones said with a big grin. "To have that research from the brand team that showed grapefruit beers were selling well, it was collaborative. We're excited."

A kölsch is usually lower in alcohol content and perfect for those humid summer days. It originated in Cologne, Germany. A kölsch is fermented with an ale yeast at warmer temperates and then, just like a lager, it is conditioned in cool temperatures for an extended period of time.

Jones experimented with natural grapefruit extracts to find the perfect flavor to complement the kölsch base. He's usually a proponent of actual fruit ingredients and would certainly utilize them in a smaller 20-barrel pilot batch. But the size of the 500-barrel brewhouse in the modernized eco-brewery makes extracts a must.

He thinks he found the perfect combination of extracts for both flavor and aroma. It's hard to argue with his research. (And how perfect is that retro packaging with the jovial sailor on the label?)

"You feel like you're overwhelmed with summer as soon as you pick up that bright yellow packaging," Schoos said.